Syndicate

Thursday, November 02, 2017

Congressional Republicans proposed barring the sale of municipal bonds for professional sports stadiums and privately run infrastructure projects such as toll roads and airports, a step that’s at odds with President Donald Trump’s push to increase funding for public works.

The tax-cutting bill released Thursday would also eliminate advanced refundings of debt issues, a popular refinancing technique with state and local governments, as well as bonds backed by federal tax credits. If enacted, the proposals would cut the amount of municipal debt sold each year by billions of dollars and potentially boost demand for the bonds.

“If you reduce the supply of municipal securities that would make them generally more valuable,” said Rob Amodeo, head of municipal debt for Western Asset Management. “But if you look at the idea that munis are going to act as a cornerstone for financing U.S. infrastructure, some of the provisions in this tax plan may challenge that a bit.”

The rollback to so-called private-activity bonds would increase costs for companies that finance public works by borrowing billions each year in the municipal securities market, where interest rates are lower. Ending the program would would increase revenue by about $39 billion through 2027, according to Congressional estimates.

Monday, October 09, 2017

Loria’s 2008 deal with Miami and Miami-Dade included payout provisions if he sold the team within six years of the 2012 opening of a county-owned ballpark built with more than $400 million in public dollars and about $150 million from the team. The deal requires the Marlins to pay the two governments 5 percent of the proceeds of a sale.

Five years and six months later, the bill may be coming due. But with Loria able to deduct both debt and taxes paid on the sale, it’s not known whether he plans on notifying local governments that they’re entitled to any dollars from the transaction.